


Darkness

by Ghost0



Series: The Boys Are Back [6]
Category: DCU (Comics), The Boys (TV 2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:55:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27305209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: Bella goes back in time to see if there is a weakness for Stormfront and Homelander that can be exploited. But she ends up coming face to face with Frederick Vought himself. Meanwhile, the Supes themselves are fully restored and under Darkseid's control as they descend with Parademons down on Earth. The Boys and Team Alpha inflitrate Darkseid's palace, but did they take on more than they can handle?
Series: The Boys Are Back [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971640
Kudos: 3





	Darkness

If Bella was even just a millisecond slower, there would be no doubt that the nearby guards would have noticed something. Pressing her back against the wall, she heard their footsteps get fainter, indicating they are moving away from her. Looking around the corner, she saw the two of them turn a corner down a different hallway. Turning her head back around to stare down the hallway she was in, she moved quickly. She went into every room until she found the one that she was looking for. She could tell by the framed picture hanging on the wall. There was a seemingly normal man in a well-tailored suit, holding arms with a woman in a white dress. Despite the fact the photo was already black and white, she knew it was white based on the context. The two of them were posing for their wedding photo. The man who would go on to establish Vought and the woman that he helped transform in Stormfront.

She slowly exhaled through her nose, telling herself to not let the photo throw her off. If she does this quickly, she won’t even catch a glimpse of either of them. Back at the DSPI headquarters, she spent most of her last minute preparations learning German. Despite her super speed helping her process things at an amazing rate, she wasn’t quite sure how much of this she was going to understand. Going to the desk in this office and partial lab space, she looked through all the papers on her desk. She tried to not to look at anything that had the swastika symbol on it, wanting to stay focused on find the papers that had more scientific content in them. Brushing through piles of papers, she began to feel panicked. “Come on Bella, focus…it has to be here somewhere.” She went bent over to look through the drawers. She found a notebook that gave her a good feeling and went through it at a quick speed.

“Finally!” She said to herself. It seems like this will help her give a good understanding of what exactly makes Stormfront so durable. When she overheard that Homelander and Stormfront will be involved in the fight, she knew she had to find anything that could give them an edge. Jay would definitely not be happy with how she went about it. Risking the timeline. The notebook doesn’t even really tell them a whole lot, but hopefully when she gets back they would have enough time to go through it and put something together.

When she picked her head up, she froze. The door is open, the handle still within the grip of the man. The very man who was in that wedding photo she studied her first few moments in this room. He adjusted his glasses, clearly surprised but not giving any clue about what was in his mind. Despite Bella having faster than light reflexes, she wasn’t mentally prepared for this risk. There was fear in her heart as her heart raced and met eyes with Frederick Vought.

******

The Boom Tube closed behind them, and the boys saw the full image of Apokolips. The sky was pitch black, the air was humid and dry. Metal was everywhere and they could hear the roar of several different fires in the distance. They landed on a walkway that was several hundred feet in the air. A thin layer of smog blurred the ground below them. Queen Maeve stepped forward on the path, looking up at the building ahead of them. A large palace, the only thing really separating it from the other buildings is its sheer size. The others looked around them first, adjusting to this new planet of fire and darkness.

“Good to know that Apokolips lives up to the name.” Billy smirked, cocking his gun as he looked over his shoulder at Mister Miracle. “All right Red Man, your with us.” He gathered close to Billy, MM, and Frenchie. Before Hughie walked over, he turned to meet up with Annie.

Slowly exhaling, she looked at him. “Well, I think it’s safe to say we got the right place.”

“Yea.” Hughie nodded. Wanting to say something witty, but found himself at a loss for words. As he realized the very real unspoken possibility, he said the only thing that felt natural. “Love you. Just in case I…haven’t said that before.”

Starlight brought Hughie towards her and gave him a soft kiss. She smiled and nodded in understanding. Hughie moved away from her and joined his team. Raven approached Maeve and spoke to her.

“Before we go further, there is one thing I need to do first. I will need to borrow one of your team members.”

“Take Lamplighter. Maybe he can prove himself useful as a bodyguard.” Maeve looked over to the hooded man. Raven approached him and told him roughly the same thing. Then a dark bird shaped shadow swallowed both of them and they were gone. She raised her hand to stop them from asking questions. “She said that something needed to be done. I don’t know what, but we just have to wait a moment.” They stood together, waiting in silence. 

Down below the layer of smog, the shadow bird released the two fighters. On the surface of Apokolips, Lamplighter felt claustrophobic. Not terribly so, but being at the base of so many structures made it feel like he was being crowded. Raven was doing something, but he couldn’t tell what it was. It seemed liked she was reaching inside her cloak for something, but he could swear there were no pockets in her cloak. “I hope whatever you have to do is really fucking important. This shit is some horror movie that I don’t want to stick around in.” When the words escaped his lips, he heard cries in the distance. Turning his head, he looked down a pathway and saw a couple of things come into view. A couple of Parademons had sensed them and started to fly towards them. Holding his lit torch in his hand, he shot flames at the approaching enemy. They fell down to the ground, but still struggled to approach them. Lamplighter did the only other thing he felt he could do and punch each of them as hard as they can. Definitely not dead, but seemed knocked out.

Raven approached him from behind. “It’s done. Let’s go back to rejoin the others.”

“What the fuck was so important you had to risk fighting with Gremlins on steroids?” He turned around, a little annoyed.

“We have to fight them regardless of what strategy we chose. And I will explain to you and the others on the way.” Stretching out her arms, the giant shadow bird took the two of them again and slew back up to the walkway above the surface.

Rejoining the team, Raven and Lamplighter drew towards Maeve, Starlight and Kimiko. The two teams walked together towards the giant palace. Cries can be heard from below, Lamplighter on edge that they might be coming up to them. But when more time passed, they seemed to be safe on the walkway for the time being. A few minutes later, they approached the doors and stopped. Mister Miracle and Queen Maeve got in front of the rest and addressed everyone.

“My team will be going towards the dungeons, finding and rescuing Ryan.” Scott Free said. “Due to the effort put in to get him, we can expect a lot of guards along the way, so we need to move fast and efficiently.”

“My team, we are going for the big man himself.” Maeve looked towards her crew. “Scott laid out the most direct pathway to his throne room, where he will most likely be. Probably a lot of Parademons and shit along the way, but only take on the ones that leave you no choice. Our goal is to move past them as fast as possible and save our energy for Darkseid.”

Both nodded in understanding. The boys cocked and held tightly onto their weapons, Team Alpha showing focus and determination. Maeve and Scott looked at each other, nodding towards the other to silently wish the other good luck. They faced the doors and moved forward, using their combined strength to push open the palace doors. Once inside, Scott motioned with his hand that it was time to split up. They went down a set of stairs while the others moved across the floor towards a flight of stairs that Maeve was told would lead them up towards the dark ruler of the New Gods.

Scott lead the boys down into the depths of Darkseid’s palace, the lower levels full of cells and torture. Even now, screams of pain and sadistic laughter can be heard echoing throughout the hallway. Hughie felt the most unease about it, but the others were better at hiding their discomfort. They remained silent, as Scott peeked around every corner to see if the coast was clear. However, when they got around one corner, they were spotted by a couple of guards that were approaching their direction. Frenchie and MM held up their weapons and started to fire. One of the dropped to the ground instantly, but the other blocked with his armor and dodged what he could. Scott jumped onto the wall and leaped across to use his arm to hit the guard in the neck and push him down onto his back. Knocked out, Scott came back to the group.

“There will be other who have heard and will be looking for us. We need to move fast and locate the cell that Ryan is in.” 

“Should we split up, to cover more ground?” Hughie asked.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Butcher turned to him. “That will just make it easier on the blokes to try and pick us off. Full speed ahead boys.”

Scott, turned around and thought for a moment. “Let’s see…considering his abilities and the fact the Furies were sent for him, they would want him in one of the most secure cells. I know the way.” He motioned with his hand to move past the guards they took down and down towards the cells. Some of these cells were the very ones that held Scott when he was a young kid, always managing to find a way out sooner or later. Hopefully though, Ryan only needs to break out of the one. 

As they descended, the boys sure enough had to take on more guards. Hughie, MM, and Frenchie all let loose. Butcher alternated between firing and savagely beating them with his bare fists. Scott was more agile, dodging and landing the blows at just the right spot. Jumping off of walls, sliding on the ground, it took him a bit longer to catch up to the others in terms of how many opponents he took down. Thankfully, they beat through them as they went along without any real surprises. Scott located the most likely cell, figuring out the combination to open the door. Indeed, not much has changed since he was in here. Pushing open the door, Ryan was chained by his feet and sitting down with his head lowered. But when he heard the heavy door open, he picked right back up. Butcher was the first one inside, handing off his gun to Scott. Walking in, he kneeled down and put a hand on the young boy’s shoulder. “At least tell me you told the cunts to fuck off after they put you down here.” Ryan reached out to hug Billy, which surprised him a bit. But he gave in and hugged a little. 

Frenchie stuck his head in. “Really beautiful, but let’s save the tears for when we get off this burning rock, ok?” 

Billy pulled back and looked over at him. “Yea yea, calm your tits mate. Red Man, come over and see if you can get these bloody chains off, will ya?” Scott came over and they found a way to break through. Getting Ryan up on his feet, they walked out into the hallway to join the rest of the team. But when they turned around to get out, they were stopped.

The Female Furies were there, but they were now lead by Granny Goodness. Only a couple of small burn marks from the last time that Billy encountered her. She sneered as she recognized the bearded man in the group. “Isn’t this just a lovely surprise! If I had known that you were part of the invading force, I would have gotten one of my older weapons. Even antiques need to be soaked in blood from time to time you know.” But her attention went straight from the Englishman and stared directly at Scott. Glaring now, her face went from a sadistic grin to frown of silent fury. “If it isn’t Scott Free. Are you here to apologize for taking one of my Furies?”

Scott straightened up, not backing down from Granny’s glare. “All I did was show her the real you. I guess you’re not as sweet and cuddly that she thought you were.”

Granny slowly exhaled through her nose. The Furies behind her got into a battle stance, waiting for the word to be given. Under his breath, Billy said the words to get him transformed into Etrigan. The yellow skinned demon spread his legs and stood with the boys. Ryan looked between them all, trying to figure out what he wanted to do in this confrontation. But before he could consciously choose, one of the Furies leaped forward, with a maniacal smile on her face. Without even thinking, Ryan’s eyes glowed bright red and lasers shot right out and hit the warrior. Screeching out, she hit the floor. Smoke came from her body, her skin was red and bloody as she looked right at the young boy. Ryan felt his heart race like it never had before, but he realized he didn’t regret what he did. Hughie looked back and met Ryan’s eyes. A silent agreement was made between them, Hughie nodding his head and stepping a little closer to him. Then the two groups charged right at each other, weapons used and special abilities lashing out. Cries of battle rang out through the lower levels of Darkseid’s palace.

As the battle raged on down below, the other team ascended to the level of the throne room. It wasn’t took long until they started to run into their own enemies. Like Maeve said, they ended up just dodging and giving out brief attacks to knock them out as quickly as possible. No time was wasted on really getting into a fight. But a few of the Parademons that came out seemed determined to engage. Maeve took her sword out and sliced the heads off of several of them. She felt a blast of heat near her back, turning around to see a Parademons fall to the ground on fire. Lamplighter met her eyes. The woman gave a silent nod as they continued on. 

With a final turn, Maeve saw the giant door that lead into the throne room, just like where Scott said it would be. But from above came down a swarm of Parademons. Lamplighter and Starlight fired upward at the demonic creatures. Maeve and Kimiko couldn’t push forward, having to fight hand to hand with the ones that reached them on the ground. Raven used shadows to strangle and push back as many as she could. They were beginning to create a tight circle around them. Starting to close in, block off their path.

Realizing what needed to be done, Raven floated in the air. “I will handle them. Keep going ahead, I will catch up with you once I am through here.”

“There is way too fucking many of them!” Lamplighter protested, turning around to look at her. Raven closed her eyes to get some concentration. “How the fucking shit are you going to-?”

“GO! NOW!” Raven screamed out. Her eyes opened. But now there were four eyes, all of them glowing red. Her teeth had morphed, became sharper than they were before. The shadows she manipulated twisted and reacted, coming off as more menacing and out of control than before. Maeve grabbed Lamplighter and pulled him out of the way before a Parademon could take advantage of him being distracted. The others followed close behind here. They still fired out and slashed out, but Raven reached far and wide to take on the swarm. Reached the doors, they did not slow down, but in fact ran faster. Bracing themselves for impact, they all slammed their bodies at the same time and opened the doors as wide as they could. Once inside, the doors closed behind them.

They stood in the giant throne room. Silence filled the chamber. Maeve and the rest of them had to reach out and stop themselves from completely falling onto the ground. Rubbing their arms and shoulders, feeling a little pain from the impact moments ago, they finally picked up their heads. Looking around, it appeared the room itself was empty. But then they saw the balcony connected to the throne room, one that overlooked the city. And that is where they saw him.

One thing that none of them were fully prepared for was his height. He easily stood over seven feet tall, towering over all of them. That height added to the aura of intimidation that followed him with every step. Even with his back turned to them, Team Alpha felt their bodies and muscles tensed up just looking at him. His skin was cracked and dark grey, wearing dark blue armor on his body. He held his hands behind his back. Despite them making a loud entrance, he did not turn around to face them. He kept overlooking the fiery, dark city surrounding him. 

“Hey asshole!” Maeve called out. “If you think you can come to our planet and take things over, then you don’t know a damn thing about us! We got some serious backup from people who have beaten you time and time again!” Maeve’s words helped the others start to feel more confident. The fire in Lamplighter’s torch burned brighter, Starlight’s eyes burned golden yellow, and Kimiko snarled. 

“As we speak, your world is being invaded by my forces. Even with the help of the other Earth’s protectors, it won’t be long until they fall.” The words he spoke were what they expected a guy like him to say. But the way he said it…they expected him to boast and gloat. Brag about the strength of his army and the power that he possesses. But that wasn’t how it was said. It was cold, straightforward, like he was speaking a simple fact that they should already know by now. “Your world will fall, just like all the others.” That was when he turned to face the heroes who have dared invaded his planet, his palace, his throne room. His armored chest proudly displayed the symbol of the Omega. His red eyes stared downward on the small group in front of him. His face was expressionless, devoid of all emotion. 

“Fuck you, ass crack face!” Lamplighter yelled out, summoning his fire and shooting it right at Darkseid. It didn’t seem to faze him at all. If anything, his eyes narrowed angrily down at the torch wielding Supe. From the shadows, a scythe came out and cut the torch, the top of it falling onto the ground. The hooded servant Desaad stomped on the flames, smirking at the surprised Supe. 

“You are not worthy of his punishment. I will show you the fate that awaits you, the pain that shall be inflicted on you. What you get for daring to harm Lord Darkseid.” Lamplighter had to separate himself from the group, trying to figure out how to fight hand to hand quickly. He dodged and tried to get out of the way. Kimiko joined him, trying to help him fight back against the hooded servant. That left only Starlight and Queen Maeve now, as they turned back to the dark ruler of Apokolips.

Starlight summoned what she could and fired out a direct blast at him. He seemed to register the blast, but showed no sign of it causing him significant pain. Maeve took the slightest bit of distraction as an opportunity to charge forward. Focusing deep inside, she jumped up onto one of the nearby pillars, using her feet to push off and upward towards Darkseid’s face, ready to slash at one of his eyes. But Darkseid was quicker, back slapping the red haired warrior. She flew across the room, crashing right through another pillar before landing on the ground. 

His eyes glowed and beams shot out of his eyes. Starlight thought they were aimed right at her, but they turned away from her. Moving around erratically, bending and turning sharply, they hit and knocked out Lamplighter and Kimiko. Starlight, unsure of what she thought she could do, sprinted forward to Darkseid. He croushed low, hands still behind his back, and kicked her right across the floor and into the far wall. She was stuck in the wall, fighting to stay conscious despite the hard blow inflicted upon her. He turned away from them, walking towards Maeve who was struggling through the pain in an effort to get up. Desaad stood over the unconscious Supes, holding Lamplighter’s head up by the hair and rubbing the blade of his scythe against the skin of his throat. 

Darkseid reached Maeve, bringing his foot forward and slowly started to bring it down. Getting on one knee and holding her hands up, she tried to push back against the full weight of his foot. She gritted her teeth, closing her eyes as she pushed back the pressure and pain radiating throughout her entire body. Angry, furious thoughts shouted in her head. How the fuck did she think they could do this?! In the moment, it seemed as though it was their foolishness that brought them to this point, finally forcing them to realize just how pathetic they appeared to be.

******

The Parademons flew out of the Boom Tubes that opened all over the world. Jay Garrick ran as fast as he could to all the countries that needed it. Running across oceans, he went to Australia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East. He threw lightning fast punches that sent Parademons flying away, knocking them out for good. He used his mind to make thoughts clear, knowing that J’onn is mentally connected to him and Barda. “How are things looking state side people? Cause I have my hands pretty full everywhere I go.”

On the streets of the US capital, Barda blasted through several Parademons at once with her rod. US soldiers ran out around her, firing their guns and weapons up at the sky to get them down as quickly as possible. “I’d say we have a good handle on things so far. Do you have a lot of interference up there J’onn?”

In the skies above the capital, the Martian Manhunter took on the shapes of several different creatures, fighting back against the swarms of creatures. “Nothing I can’t handle for now. Jay, if you feel that other nations have a good handle on their forces, it might work better if you return back here. It appears as though the majority of the forces are concentrating where we are.”

Jay confirmed and ran around to make sure no one else needed help at the moment. In his head, his thoughts went back to Bella. Where – or when – is she? He just hopes that she can find a way back soon. He ran across the water in an effort to get back to the states.

J’onn flew high in the sky, looking down for a brief moment to see the spread out forces. Soldiers and tanks aimed all around, some of them trying to evacuate as many civilians as they could. Tough work, but it seems like everything is going about as well as they could have hoped for. That is, until a couple more fighters came down from the sky.

J’onn was hit in the back with hot beams, crying out in surprised pain as he started to fall a bit. Catching himself, he turned around to look at his attacker. Crossing his arms, his outfit was stylistically very similar to his original outfit. Except now it was black and silver. The cape blew sideways, flapping in the wind. She then appeared behind and above him. Again, black and silver but otherwise essentially the exact same as her original outfit. Except now, their foreheads bare the mark. The mark of the Omega burned onto their skin, their sadistic smiles matching their new aura and look.

“So you’re the Martian that I have heard about out. You think you and your little friends will make much difference?” Homelander laughed down at the green man floating below him. “I think it’s time you need a reality check.” 

“Allow me.” Stormfront reached one hand and sent lightning to strike at J’onn. He braced himself and held on as best as he could. After a while, Homelander put up his hand and stopped the experience.

“Why don’t you greet our friends down below? I’m sure they need some attention.” Nodding, Stormfront left the two of them. Homelander sped fast and punched J’onn across the sky. Then he raced forward and did it again and again. J’onn gathered himself and made himself intangiable, the nest punch going right through him. Turning into a giant constrictor, he wrapped himself around Homelander to get him to kneel. The strength given back to Homelander gave him the boost needed to break free and continue to brawl with the Martian. 

Down below, Stormfront made a landing that sent lightning flying out and hitting many soldiers. Ones that were trying to evacuate some people to safety. She turned to see an African American family, the parents holding their kids close and trying to protect them. Lightning crackeled around her and she got read to strike. But Barda blasted her with her rod, getting her to turn her attention over to the former Fury. The family scurried away, as Barda jumped up and got ready to land a blow. She made impact, but Stormfront showed no sign of pain as she punched back just as hard. Lightning blasted everywhere, taking down soldiers and buildings. As the fights on the ground and in the sky raged on, Jay ran as fast as he could in an effort to turn the tide.

******

“What do we have here now?” Frederick Vought eyed the strange ethnic girl standing in his office. Behind his desk, holding his scientific journal. “Who sent you here? The British? I would have thought they were smarter than this. To use someone like YOU to try and infiltrate undetected.”

Bella at first didn’t respond. The surprise caught her off guard. But she gathered herself and stood firm. “You don’t scare me.”

Amused by this, he gave a soft grin. “Oh dear child. My intention is not make you afraid. It is to make you dead.” He pulled out a VP9 pistol and started to take aim. But as soon as he did so, a bright golden light shined in the room. In between the two people, both of them had to avert their eyes away from the source. Vought put his hand over his eyes, lowering his handgun. When it started to die down, he lowered his hand and stared at the new stranger in the room. Dressed in gold and blue, with a golden helmet completely covering his head, the holes where his eyes were grew bight and fierce.

“Fate shall not be altered!” Doctor Fate held up his hands to his side, the symbol of the Ankh appeared in shining light behind him. Light filled the room as Doctor Fate performed his spells.


End file.
